Not gonna lie — I was completely unexcited when the ARC of Hunt Them Down by Simon Gervais landed on my doorstep.
I received the copy on Thanksgiving weekend, and I saw the pub date was scheduled for January 1. While you don’t have to post ARC reviews before the pub date, it’s really nice to do so. I feel like the publishers appreciate it. After all, that’s why you’re getting a copy in advance…to share advance reviews. Presumably favorable reviews.
So, yes, this ARC review is a few days late. Sorry, Amazon.
If you’ve been following my blog for some time now – or for, like, five minutes – you’ll see that an action-packed crime thriller really isn’t up my alley. I’m not sure how I received this particular ARC, actually; I’ve never been one for action thrillers or gritty crime dramas. I’ve never even read The DaVinci Code (though I did watch the movie. It was mostly okay.)
“You like Homeland!” my husband offered helpfully, as I described to him my apprehension at starting this ARC.
“That’s true! I do!” I replied, perking up a little.
Nevermind that a large part of my Homeland appreciation is due to the fact that I love Claire Danes (a.k.a, Angela Chase forever), and that I can simply close my eyes until some of the more intense scenes are over.
So, Hunt Them Down is definitely out of my reading comfort zone. However, I want to read a wide array of books and appeal to all different kinds of readers, so I decided to keep an open mind and attempt to expand my literary horizons. Who knows? I thought. I could end up liking a whole new genre!
Excited as I was about potential literary discovery, I put off reading this book for as long as possible. I usually read only Christmas books in December but, again, with the January 1 deadline looming, I figured I better take one for the team and crack it open before Christmas.
When I finally did sit down with the book, so many thoughts ran through my head as I opened the cover:
Is it going to get gory? I don’t really like gory… *skimming the jacket copy* Hmm. “Notorious Mexican drug cartel” with a “sadistic cartel leader.” Yup, that sounds a bit dark…
How am I going to do a #bookstagram photo for this one?? I don’t think my usual mug of hot tea and/or candle is going to mesh well with “Hunt Them Down.” [Apparently, I think a bowl of popcorn is an appropriate high-adrenaline substitute.] Maybe my brother-in-law will let me borrow his gun…
I need more book props. I wonder if Target will have anything crime-related in the dollar section…
I started reading. And, I made it about two pages before my eyes started to glaze over.
“Is the writing good, at least?” Husband asked as I sighed and put the book down.
“I don’t know!” I wailed despondently. “I can’t tell! There are so many facts!”
And, there are. In the first chapter, you’re bombarded with “kilograms” and “quarter tons” (I never liked math). Drug names like heroin and opium are casually dropped. Then there are the military formations, and the abbreviations of letters and numbers (which, apparently, are how one refers to guns), and some talk about drug ring profits.
It’s all very…dense. Not in a bad way. Just in a way that I don’t care about. At all.
I kept at it for one more (short) chapter – already knowing that I wouldn’t be able to keep to my 50 page rule – and when the character viewpoint switched from that of a military guy to a reporter, and I was like, Oh, okay, I might be able to relate to this a little better.
Then it switched again to whom I suspect is the aforementioned “sadistic cartel leader,” and suddenly there were teenaged women who, after being forced to cut up heroin in a warehouse while naked, were going to be unceremoniously executed.
Aaaaaaaaaand, that’s when I decided, No, this is not the book for me.
Not to be stereotypical, but I feel like Hunt Them Down is a very “guy” book. Lots of action! Lots of military terms! Lots of nitty gritty stuff. I’m sure there are many women out there who enjoy these types of novels, too, but I am not one of them.
And, forgive me, Tartlets, but I imagine that the majority of my readers won’t really be interested in Hunt Them Down-esque novels, either. So, what would be the point of forcing myself to continue reading if neither I nor my readership will benefit?
To the DNF pile this book went. However, unlike my previous #DNFDecember reads, this book didn’t bore me; it simply didn’t interest me from the start. It’s completely not a genre I enjoy, and nothing in the first two chapters suddenly sparked any new interest.
But, hey. If you (or your dad?) are looking for a tense, action-packed thriller, then perhaps take a look at this one. It seems pretty promising on both the “action” and “thriller” parts. Definitely the “crime” part.
So, thank you, Thomas & Mercer, a division of Amazon Publishing, for the opportunity to review an advance copy of Hunt Them Down and for the attempt to broaden my literary horizons. Now could you please un-select the box next to my name that says “Yes! Send me action crime thrillers!”? #KTHANKSBYE. 🙂
Hunt Them Down by Simon Gervais will be available for sale on January 1, 2019 from Thomas & Mercer/Amazon Publishing. Although I received a complimentary advance copy of this book, all opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I was not compensated in any way for this review or for any other promotion/publicity I’ve done related to this book.
You make me laugh. I appreciate how you can separate your own feelings about the book from your overall opinion of the book. So many people seem to take the “If I don’t like it, no one should like it” route.
Haha, thanks!! Everyone has such different reading tastes. I have def gotten into arguments with people over what we each think about a movie, book, etc, and I hate when people refuse to acknowledge any opinion but their own! Something may not be your cuppa tea, but it may be exactly someone else’s!
I love thrillers – it’s a weakness of mine. LOL! That’s why I am committing to reading one classic a month this year – I’m trying to stretch my reading wings a bit! But that being said, I don’t think this book sounds like my kind of book either. While I like thrillers, I’m really not into drug cartels and military. Sorry you didn’t enjoy the book. But I like your 50 page rule. Life’s too short to read bad books!
Yeah, same here. I do like thrillers, much more than I used to and usually ones that are supernatural or psychological based, but this one was just too intense for me. Drugs? No thanks. Lots of guns? More no thanks. Just not for me. It’s great you’re starting to read some classics, though! I read SO many in high school and college (English major), so I really haven’t read any since then, save for all of Jane Austen’s works. But I did love so many classics that I read. Good luck!!